So, with the worst winter in Chicago in a few years, and my somewhat blah performance at the Houston Marathon, my only getaway has been the treadmill at my local fitness center.
As we talked about before Treadmills (see Turning the "Dreadmill into the Treadmill"), I decided to take the attributes, and use them to prepare for the my next race, The Country Music Marathon, in April.
Treadmills are not a true replacement for outside conditions, but they can aid in getting you ready for when you go back outside.
My Goal for the Country Music Marathon is a sub 3:40 marathon, but the course is quite hilly, so I have two simple rules for the treadmill. That 1) The hill mode will always be on (unless I'm doing high speed intervals in which the treadmill will be at 1% grade) and 2) 1 will try to exceed my normal pace on a regular basis with either progression runs or intervals. Being on a faster pace helps expand my lactate threshold, and helps me sustain a faster pace for a longer period of time. Since Chicago is so notoriously flat, getting used to the resistance of climbing hills now will help until I can get outside and run on hillier terrain in the area. So, I'm trying to go uphill or go fast, or both.
So here are three workouts I've done in the last three days: No treadmill workout is longer than 45 minutes.
Friday: Hill reps at faster than standard pace. warm up for a mile, then 5 minutes at a 6% grade climb at 8:05 -7:54 a mile (my standard pace is around 8:30), then recover for three minutes at 0% grade. Repeat cycle 5 times. Cool down with one mile easy.
Saturday: Progression Run: Put treadmill in hill mode, put it on level 4 or 5. Highest hill should not exceed 3%. Start 1 mile at standard pace, then for the next 4 miles, increase pace 1/2 mile per hour.
Sunday: Intervals: Warm up 6x800 meter @ 6:40-7:00 per mile with a 2:00 recovery, then cooldown. Treadmill is set at a standard 1%.
As I do more treadmill workouts, I'll post them.
Happy running!
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